Mention of Gun Control Drives Sturm, Ruger & Co.'s Sales Upward

YCHARTS.com submits: Talk of gun control, one might assume, is not good for companies that sell guns. But here’s what really happens to gun sales when the debate over gun laws heats up: That’s a chart for Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc. (RGR), which derives 98% of its revenues from sales of firearms. The big spike in sales started just as it was becoming clear that Barack Obama – a gun control fanatic, according to the industry lobby groups — would actually take office. That revelation led a whole a lot of people to line up for gun permits. Even enacted gun control has done nothing to dampen gun sales at Sturm Ruger. The company’s revenues rose in the year after Congress passed a five-day waiting period for gun buyers in 1994, and again after the criminal background check went into effect in 1998. Its products were exempted from assault weapons bans because it sold those only to law enforcement. Gun control is again hot news, as politicians try to suss out politically correct responses to the January 8 shooting in Tucson that killed six and wounded 14 others. New York City Mayor Governor Michael Bloomberg, apparently upset that such a rampage with a legal weapon had not yet set off serious gun control efforts at the federal level, tried to heat up the debate on Monday with the shocking news that he was able to buy a bunch of guns illegally at a gun show in Arizona. None of this hasComplete Story »

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Richard Martinez, the grieving father of one of Rodger’s six victims, put the gun- control debate centre stage, in a searingly raw appearance before the cameras after the death of his son, Christopher.

ByRichard Bulkeley:I recently ran a screen for safe stocks that yielded at least 2%. One of the interesting stocks that came up was Sturm Ruger & Company (RGR). Ruger is a firearms manufacturer. They make rifles, pistols, and revolvers and sell them (mostly) to wholesale distributors.

TUCSON, Ariz. — Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, talk about their continued push for gun regulation in the upcoming issue of Vogue magazine.
The couple has formed a political action committee in hopes of preventing gun violence and changing laws to require compulsory background checks for gun buyers. The PAC will also work to limit the size of ammo magazines and to ban the sale of assault weapons to civilians.
Kelly said “now is the time” to do something in the wake of recent mass shootings in Colorado and Connecticut.

By Rx Stocks:In light of these ongoing tragedies, a robust national debate on school shootings should not exclude any potential solutions, from gun control, and mental health issues to school security.

By Chris Sandys: Firearm manufacturers Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (SWHC) and Sturm, Ruger and Company (RGR) had seen their share prices slide since the election, only to fall precipitously since the murders in Sandy Hook, CT. The reason is obvious: investors fear new gun control legislation will dampen future sales.